Dr Hunte congratulates T&T on CT20 triumph

Bridgetown, Barbados– President of the West Indies Cricket Board, Dr Julian Hunte has congratulated the Trinidad and Tobago team for their superb performance in winning the Caribbean Twenty20 2011.

Dr Hunte said the Trinidadians were true champions and were worthy winners. They played unbeaten throughout the two-week event and defeated Hampshire Royals in Sunday’s grand final at Kensington Oval to take home the first prize of US$62,500 and the coveted Caribbean T20 trophy. They also qualified to represent the Caribbean at the Airtel Champions League.

Dr Hunte also praised the efforts of the other teams and lauded the superb job done by the tournament organisers, event staff and volunteers.

“We saw a great performance by the Trinidad and Tobago team as they again proved they are the best team in the Caribbean in the T20 format. They played like true champions from start to finish. They came into the tournament full confidence and won convincingly. They were very well led and played a special brand of cricket. They were full of energy and brought great entertainment."

The President added: “We were also happy with the participation of the other teams who all gave of their best and all had special moments. We saw the progress of several new players and fans got the chance to see their favourite players in action. We were also happy with the participation of the two English County teams, Hampshire and Somerset. They brought a lot of value to the tournament and I hope they will be back to add more value to the event in coming years.”

Dr Hunte was also full of praise for the many flag-waving fans who turned out for the party-like atmosphere at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds in Antigua and Kensington Oval in Barbados.

“I feel the spirit of West Indies cricket is back as a result of the tremendous rallying of the lovely fans during this tournament. I felt very motivated by what I saw and would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to the thousands of cricket lovers who came out and played a key role in spurring on their teams.

“I also want to thank and congratulate the CEO of the WICB, Dr Ernest Hilaire, Event Manager Cindy McLean and their team for a tremendous job to put on this tournament. Many thanks also to the organising committees in Antigua and Barbados and all the people who played a huge role in making the event a success.

Dr Hunte added: “We were also delighted with the role of ESPN and the team which was responsible for producing the event. We also had a high-quality radio broadcast via the Line & Length Network and the highlights packages through CMC. With these systems in place the cricket world can see the quality and we have here in the Caribbean. The entire tournament was a tremendous success.”

Of all domestic cricket tournaments globally, Caribbean Twenty20 received the widest live media coverage: live television broadcast, live radio commentary, live text commentary via CoverItLive on ct20.windiescricket.com and live score and other updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Additionally the WICB also provided full photographic coverage of the event via Flickr.com and highlights on the WindiesCricket channel on YouTube.